Name: Maria Camila Cardenas

Grade: 10B
Passive Voice Exercises
Cited and adapted from
Winkler, Anthony C., and Jo Ray McCuen. Writing Talk: Paragraphs and Short Essays with Readings.
2nd ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2000. 369-372.
Practicing I
Read the paired sentences aloud. Write "A" in the blank beside the sentence in the active voice,
"P" in the blank beside the sentence in the passive voice.
a. __A_____ Louise made the coffee.
b. __P__ The coffee was made by Louise.
c. __P_____ The package was advertised by the travel agent.
d. __A_____ The travel agent advertised the package.
Practicing II
Rewrite these sentences to put them in the active voice.
a. The sugar water was relished by the hummingbirds.
The hummingbirds relished the sugar water.
b. Jogging is done by many people for exercise.
Many people do jog for execise.
c. A standing ovation was given to the guitar player.
The audience gave a standing ovation to the guitar player.
d. The syllabus was handed out by the professor.
The professor handed out the syllabus.
Practicing III
Using either a computer or a piece of scratch paper, rewrite the following paragraph in the active
voice.
Last summer our house was painted by me. The job took about two weeks. First, the
exterior was washed using warm water and a mild detergent. Then all the chinks and pores in the
walls were sealed with putty. After the putty had had a chance to dry, the exterior could be
painted. A latex paint was used because it is easy to apply and cleans up with water. A whole
week was needed to finish this part of the job. I was very careful to apply the paint evenly
because I did not want to have to apply two coats. A color was used that was very close to the
original color. Our house is a two-story house, which meant that a tall ladder was needed to do
the second story. The paint can had to be balanced on the top rung of the ladder while I worked.
When the job was finished, a great deal of satisfaction was felt by me. I had to pat myself on the
back. Even my dad said that a good job was done.

Last summer I painted our house. I took two weeks to do the job. First, I washed the exterior
using warm water and a mild detergent. Then I sealed all the chinks and pores in the walls
with putty. After the putty had had a chance to dry, I could paint the exterior. After the putty
had had a chance to dry, I could paint the exterior. I used a latex paint because it is easy to
apply and cleans up with water. I needed a whole week to finish this part of the job. I used a
color that was very close to the original color. Our house is a two-story house, which mean
that I needed a tall ladder to do the second story. I needed to balance the paint can on the top
rung of the ladder while I worked. I felt a great deal of satisfaction when the job was finished.
Even my dad said that I did a good job.